UFC 216: Lewis Vs Werdum cancelled, Lewis pulls out with back problem

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Bengaluru, October 8: Fabricio Werdum versus Derrick Lewis has been removed from Saturday's UFC event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, due to problems with Lewis' back.

The news of the main card heavyweight bout canncellation was confirmed by MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani shortly after UFC commentator Jon Anik's post on twitter.

"I can't move," Lewis told MMA Fighting. "I'm feeling the same pain in my back that I felt before the Mark Hunt fight."

After Friday's weigh-ins Lewis said the injury aggrevated and on Saturday morning he was in a lot of pain and unable to move, which prompted the last-minute cancellation. Lewis is hopeful that the fight will be rescheduled for UFC 217 on November 4 in New York City.

It was later announced on the Fight Pass preliminary broadcast that Walt Harris has agreed to step in for Lewis and meet Werdum on the main card. Harris was originally scheduled to fight Mark Godbeer on the Fight Pass portion of the show.

However, UFC confirmed Godbeer will not be involved on Saturday and the event was set to proceed with 11 fights.